Struggling Queensland-based Internet Service Provider XiS is set to provide upgraded dial-up services, a new ADSL offering and move to a bigger CBD-based call centre, thanks to a mystery -transaction".

However an industry pundit warns consumers to take the ISP's claims with -a jar of salt".

Refusing to identify its likely saviour, XiS managing director Shane Craig yesterday enthused about the company's upcoming makeover--which would see, he insisted, all customers reimbursed for its ADSL service that hit the skids earlier this year.

Timid to reveal exactly how the company plans to achieve its goals, Craig claimed a -transaction" would see new services rolled out shortly, including a new ADSL offering available at the end of August. Furthermore, XiS would be ramped up with an additional 4 to 5000-strong customer base, which has spurred the company's current move from the Queensland suburb of Carindale to a call centre in Brisbane's CBD. The new call centre, according to Craig, would double the company's current infrastructure.

Craig's company update came in response to ZDNet Australia's inquiry earlier this week as to why some customers still hadn't been reimbursed pre-paid ADSL installation fees following the failed rollout of the service earlier this year, and why the company was seemingly non-contactable to those disgruntled, out-of-pocket punters.

"I can assure you it is the very top priority to have this [customer refunding] out of the way," Craig said. According to Craig the 33 outstanding accounts will be paid when "the transaction", initiated in June, goes through.

According to Craig, XiS has about 2000 dial-up customers at the moment and 60 ADSL customers online, for whom he says the service is working. Craig said over 1000 people submitted applications for ADSL when the original service was heralded for rollout earlier this year.

The company, in the meantime, remains unreachable by consumers, having closed its Carindale operation, and yet to move into its new call centre. Its e-mail address, 1300 number, and fax number all fail to connect through to the company.

Craig conceded that some customers have had difficulty getting into contact with XiS, and said he'd had problems getting Telstra to install the new phone lines in the Brisbane-based call centre. He alleged the current 1300 number is being directed to a new call centre number that has yet to be activated by Telstra.

Craig on Monday said he hoped the new telephone line would be connected Tuesday. Today, when ZDNet tried, the 1300 number remains disconnected.

When XiS customers first started complaining of not having received refunds, Craig blamed Westpac for the delay and reiterated the claim to ZDNet Australia this week.

In a similar vein, XiS blamed DataFast, its ADSL supplier, when its ADSL service keeled over before it so much as got off the ground earlier this year.

-DataFast told us in January 2002 they'd be ready. In late April they were finally ready but by then those who had signed up had already gone elsewhere," Craig reiterated yesterday. -Action against them will be dealt with as part of the transaction...there will be some action taken."

Frank Romanin, managing director of Datafast, said the company discontinued its ADSL service with the ISP because XiS breached the terms and conditions of its supplier agreement.

Disgruntled customers are still coming out of the woodwork and venting their frustration with a company that as far as they're concerned has gone to ground.

"I just want to let all people who are considering going to XiS know that they should think again," ZDNet reader Greg Solon said. -I signed up for their service and have yet to see anything more then six months down the track. They have taken more than AU$800 from me and they are uncontactable, by phone or e-mail. I strongly believe that it's a scam and I doubt that I'll see my AU$800 again."

TIO on the case
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman confirmed that XiS is a member and that it has received an increasing number of complaints against it--some of them at an escalated level.

The TIO has a procedure for escalating complaints to different levels of seriousness, for reasons such as non-responsiveness.

If a complaint refers to a transaction up to the value of AU$10,000 the TIO confirmed it can make a legally binding determination that the offending company cough up.

Although the TIO refused to say if things had escalated this far with XiS, it said it is committed to releasing information on members in its quarterly statistics TIO Talks. Asked if the TIO would be likely to take this opportunity to pass comment on XiS, it said that members must have more than 25 complaints against them and conceded that XiS may come into that category.

The Department of Fair Trading in Queensland said that no formal investigation into XiS is underway, and despite registering some complaints about the service provider, it had received -nothing significant".

Twenty-year-old Craig expects -the transaction" to be completed very soon, and said that he will relinquish the role of company director to become business development manager in Brisbane, once it is finalised.

However, one telecommunications industry pundit, who refused to be named, said: -you need to take whatever he says with a jar of salt...It's fairly clear that they have run out of money -- they keep promising they will refund customers but don't".

Telstra and Westpac have so far failed to respond to requests for comment.

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